Making the Most of Fresh Herbs
In addition to adding flavor to your food, fresh herbs can be beneficial to your health. Depending on the herbs, they can help prevent high blood pressure, lower cholesterol, reduce stress, relieve anxiety, improve digestion and kidney function and much more. Consider adding herbs to elevate the flavor of your breakfast smoothies.
- Raspberry Rosemary Smoothie: Rosemary is good for improving memory and concentration, can improve mood and boost energy, and has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. It aids digestion, helps prevent cancer, and boosts immunity. It also improves circulation, relieves muscle pain, provides migraine relief, and is good for the liver. This smoothie uses raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and fresh rosemary, along with honey, and can be enhanced with add-ons like banana, leafy greens, protein powder, and superfoods like cacao, spirulina, and coconut oil.
- Raspberry Lime and Mint Smoothie: Sweet, tangy, and refreshing, this is the perfect smoothie for a hot day. Raspberries, lime, almond or cashew milk, fresh mint, and honey make it thirst-quenching and delicious. Mint is loaded with nutrients, including vitamin A, iron, manganese, and folate, and has many health benefits. It helps with digestion and the symptoms of IBS, can alleviate cold symptoms, and may even improve brain function.
- Blackberry Basil Smoothie: Blackberries, basil leaves, protein powder, flaxseed oil, and chia seeds make this smoothie highly nutritious and delicious. Basil is an extremely beneficial herb, full of antioxidants that help fight free radicals in the body and can lower the risk of health conditions like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis.
- Lemon Thyme Blueberry Smoothie: Thyme is known for its many benefits, which include fighting acne, lowering blood pressure, boosting immunity, and relieving coughs. It has antibacterial and antifungal properties and may help fight certain kinds of cancer. This smoothie has bananas, blueberries, lemon juice, lemon zest, almond milk, honey, chia seeds, and, of course, thyme.
- Banana Lemongrass Coconut Smoothie: Lemongrass is an herb with which you might not be familiar, but it’s extremely good for you. Rich in vitamins, including folic acid, B1, B5, B6, A, and C, as well as potassium, zinc, calcium, iron, manganese, copper, and magnesium. It’s good for alleviating cough and sore throat, can help lower fever, has detoxifying properties, and can improve blood circulation and lower blood lipids. It also has a calming effect, reducing stress, improving sleep, and helping with anxiety. This smoothie is delicious, with bananas, lemon grass, lime juice, coconut milk, honey, and just a pinch of turmeric.
- Fennel Fronds, Banana, and Pineapple Smoothie: This smoothie is like a meal in a glass, and it’s wonderfully nutritious. Pineapples, bananas, and fennel fronds come together beautifully for a delicious treat. Pineapple is loaded with vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin C and B complex, and it has manganese, which is necessary for building bones. Pineapple has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, strengthens gums, and lowers the risk of macular degeneration. Adding fennel gives even more value to this smoothie because fennel is another good source of vitamin C and has many other health benefits. It can help with issues as diverse as anemia, digestive issues, respiratory disorders, colic, and menstrual disorders.
- Green Apple Pear Parsley Smoothie: This smoothie contains fresh parsley, banana, green apple, pear, lemon, avocado, raw honey, and vanilla almond milk. Adding protein powder is optional, but it’s highly recommended, because it balances the sugars in the smoothie and makes it more filling. Parsley gives the smoothie a bright but subtle flavor, and has significantly beneficial properties. This smoothie contains ½ cup of parsley, and this amount delivers 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A and vitamin K, and more than half the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C. It’s also full of cancer-preventive antioxidants, supports bone health, and has natural antibacterial properties.
Find the Freshest Herbs at Busch’s
Since 1975, Busch’s Food Market has served customers in Michigan, first as a small business, and now as a privately held independent supermarket chain with 16 stores and over 1,400 associates. Proud to be mitten born and raised, we bring our customers local products grown and produced right here in Michigan. Our hometown local food market combines today’s emphasis on freshness and style with our traditional values, personal service, and wholesomeness. Everything in our stores from fresh meat to herbs and produce is chosen because of its superior ingredients and exceptional flavor. Shop Busch’s Fresh Food Market in-store or online at Buschs.com.